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Fillmageddon ticket give away

Fillmageddon at the Fillmore Silver Spring

On Saturday, October 11th two of the fall’s biggest metal tours cross paths for one night only at the Fillmore Silver Spring for a show so big it can only be called Fillmageddon! Machine Head, Children Of Bodom, Epica and Battlecross are on tour together but The Black Dahlia Murder and Suicide Silence tour was looking to play the area on the same day so rather than have competing shows they’re all playing at the Fillmore! We’re so excited around here for this show that we’re going to give one of you lucky readers of this site a free pair of tickets to this epic show. To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me which band you want to see the most. At 5pm EST this Friday, August 22nd, a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to receive two tickets to the show! Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from the winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win, or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from right now for $29.99 from Live Nation here.

Robb Flynn’s Machine Head will be headlining Fillmageddon as they tour to support their upcoming new album Bloodstone & Diamonds. Finland’s neo-classical melodic death metal band Children Of Bodom always brings the shredding riffs and solos and this show will be no exception. The Black Dahlia Murder is still touring to support their excellent release last year, Everblack. Suicide Silence is still going strong with Eddie Hermida (formerly of All Shall Perish) taking over vocals after the death of Mitch Lucker in 2012. Simone Simmons has a beautiful voice that you can’t ignore when Epica is playing and openers Battlecross will get the pits started early with their thrashy melo death riffs and mega fun live show. That’s one hell of a line up! Now check out these killer tunes by the bands and tell me in the comments which band you want to see the most!

Machine Head – Locust

Children Of Bodom – Trashed, Lost & Strungout

The Black Dahlia Murder – Goat Of Departure

Suicide Silence – You Can’t Stop Me

Epica – Storm The Sorrow

Battlecross – Never Coming Back

August 18, 2014
Categories: Contests, Fillmore Silver Spring . Tags: Battlecross, Children Of Bodom, Contest, Epica, Fillmore Silver Spring, Machine Head, Suicide Silence, The Black Dahlia Murder . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 48 Comments

Summer Slaughter ticket give away

Summer Slaughter at Empire

On Tuesday, August 12 (that’s next week!) the Summer Slaughter Tour makes its only area stop at Empire. The bill is loaded with some of the most brutal death metal bands in the world, including: Dying Fetus, The Faceless, Thy Art Is Murder, Goatwhore, Origin, Decrepit Birth, Within The Ruins, Fallujah and Boreworm. This week DCHM is giving away a pair of tickets to the show at Empire to one of you lucky readers of this site. To enter leave a comment on this post telling me which band you’re most excited to see at Summer Slaughter this year. At 5pm EST this Friday, August 8th, a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to receive two tickets to the show! Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from the winner within 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win, or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Ticket Fly right now for $30 here.

Fans of death metal do not want to miss this show! With bands like The Faceless, Goatwhore, Origin, Decrepit Birth and Maryland’s own Dying Fetus all playing, you can be sure this show will satisfy all your mosh pit and headbanging needs. There will be food specials all day and be sure to bring a few extra dollars for some of the sick looking merch that you just know will be available with this many death metal bands on the bill. Now check out some of the tunes below and tell me, which band are you most excited to see at Summer Slaughter this year?

Dying Fetus – From Womb To Waste

The Faceless – Accelerated Evolution

Goatwhore – Baring Teeth For Revolt

Origin – Absurdity Of What I Am

Decrepit Birth – The Resonance

August 4, 2014
Categories: Contests, Death Metal, Empire, Tech Death . Tags: Boreworm, Decrepit Birth, Dying Fetus, Empire, Fallujah, Goatwhore, Origin, Summer Slaughter, The Faceless, The Summer Slaughter Tour, Thy Art Is Murder, Within The Ruins . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 32 Comments

Review of Grimscape ’14 at the Sidebar

On Saturday, July 26th I made it up to the first Grimscape at the Sidebar in Baltimore. The place isn’t very big, I think the max capacity is around 100 people, and most of the walls and pipes in the place are covered in the stickers of bands that have played there in the past. The stage is only a few inches tall and the lighting isn’t anything worth bragging about, but it’s a great spot for DIY punk and metal shows. This evening the Sidebar was hosting the inaugural Grimscape that will apparently become an annual event. It collected a bunch of mostly local black metal bands with the headliner, Pact, coming down from Erie, Pennsylvania, to play. Apparently Helgardh was supposed to be on the bill but for whatever reason they dropped off and were replaced by a band called Hex Temple. This was apparently Hex Temple’s first live show but I didn’t get there in time to see them. I did however get to see the next band, Antikosmos, who were also making their live debut at this show. They were entertaining for sure. Frontwoman Victoria Atkins commands the audience’s attention with her striking blonde hair and wild facial expressions, though she was standing on the stage behind a couple of the band members who were on the floor which obscured her from view at times. They played a Watain cover and a Bathory cover as well as a pair of originals. They’re still figuring out their own sound, which is mostly dominated by their influences, but that’s to be expected from any young band really. There was quite a large crowd there while they played and I think a lot of people came just to see their friends in Antikosmos perform for the first time.

After Antikosmos played Inverted Trifixion was set to play next. I was hungry though, and the Sidebar doesn’t serve food, so I ran out for a bite to eat at Joe Squared, hoping to make it back in time to catch the end of Inverted Trifixion’s set. Unfortunately I didn’t make it back that quickly as Dispellment was setting up when I returned. Dispellment is a three piece black metal band from Northern Virginia and they’re pretty damn good. Their style is fast and energetic and reminds me of something similar to Taake mixed with older Marduk. The band is well rehearsed and performs together as a tight unit. Although their songs are often punishing they do have room in there for some catchy riffs even a moderate black metal fan can appreciate. Their stage set up with deer antlers and various tree branches in addition to their messy corpse paint is pretty entertaining, and their bass player often walked right into the audience with a menacing look on his face making sure you couldn’t simply ignore Dispellment’s performance.

Finally it was time for the headliner, Pact. Unfortunately most of the audience that had been there earlier in the night had left by this point and it was a shame cause these guys were pretty sick. Their vocalist came out wearing a black robe with a big hood on it and some sort of bandage on his right hand. One of the guitar players had some crazy looking custom guitar that looked like the cover to Morbid Angel’s Altars Of Madness covered in a sickly ashen bile. These guys were also very well practiced and tight, you could tell they knew their material inside and out. Pact was the most aggressive sounding band that I saw at Grimscape combining a raw intensity with some unholy riffage that oddly reminded me of mid-90s era Dark Funeral at times. Their vocalist did a lot of hand gestures to the crowd and sometimes it almost seemed like he was practicing some sort of martial arts moves with his hands.

In all it was a great DIY black metal show and a great time over all. Thanks to Mary Spiro of Metallomusikum (and the curator of the Black Metal Baltimore group on Facebook) for getting the bands to come out, the turn out seemed pretty good so I’m betting there will be a second installment in 2015. Let’s hope more people (including members of the bands earlier on the bill) stay next time cause the later bands were great! I’ve posted some of my favorite photos that I shot Saturday below, but you can see all of them, and in full size, on Flickr here. Keep it metal everyone and keep on supporting the scene that you’re a part of!

Antikosmos:

Dispellment:

Pact:

July 30, 2014
Categories: Black Metal, Concert Reviews . Tags: Antikosmos, Black Metal, Dispellment, Grimscape, Grimscape '14, Pact, Sidebar . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 2 Comments

Review of Existence Asunder by Terracide

Band: Terracide
Album: Existence Asunder
Release Date: 6 June 2014
Buy digital or CD for $10 on Bandcamp: Here

Cover of Existence Asunder by Terracide

Here’s another album review by Tal and you can of course read more of her writings on her personal blog In My Winter Castle. I’ll keep this short and let you get right into it.

It’s not too easy to find an epic melodic metal band that’s local to the DC area, so the debut full-length Existence Asunder from Washington, DC’s Terracide is a welcome addition. It’s an extravaganza of melodic guitar, alternating between aggressive melodeath riffs and high-flying power metal epicness, with a few proggy melodies thrown in for good measure. The album also brings more death metal thunder than their EP, Primordium, would have led one to expect. As for vocals, Terracide mainman Daniel Tidwell’s voice ranges from a low growl, to a harsh shriek, to harsh singing, to high clean vocals. To further muddy the waters, the album even forays into metalcore territory, with a touch of angst in some of the clean choruses and even a few breakdowns – but I can forgive them since it doesn’t sound out of place or detract from the melodic punch of the album. Who doesn’t mix half a dozen different genres these days anyway?

My favorite track is probably “Your Heaven’s Falling.” It’s actually one of the less melodic songs on the album, but it’s definitely the most headbangable. It starts off fast and thundering, gets really groovy for the chorus, and then revs up to circle-pit pace again in the second verse. Some other standout heavy tracks are “Halo Delusion,” with its epic melodic chorus anchored by rumbling growls, and “Stars Align” with its speedy melodic lead over very headbangable bass thunder. The more aggressive songs on the album put me very much in mind of Slaughter of the Soul era At The Gates, with their furious pace, the epic feel of their raging, melodic riffs, and the driving heaviness of their slower parts.

Other songs go more straightforwardly in an epic direction, notably “When Roses Bleed” and “Installation 04 (September 2552).” These songs include harsh vocals, but besides that they have more of a galloping NWOBHM or power metal sound even in their more forceful parts. The high, clean choruses, such as in “Installation 04,” certainly have a power metal flair, as do a few of the more flamboyant solos, such as two minutes into “Feed the Flame.” Another nice touch is the melancholy yet beautiful piano intro to “When Roses Bleed,” composed and played by guest musician Yoko Mada. It lasts for one third of the song and is so lovely that it brings tears to my eyes; it contrasts strongly with the charging energy when the speedy metal part of the song gets started.

The epic, power metally parts of the album tend to be songs from the band’s EP, such as “Installation 04,” and parts of “Mirrorborn” and “Forge of Empty Souls.” The songs that are new on this album have a much stronger death metal feel, with a Gothenburg sound in particular. I wonder what precipitated this change, though I for one can appreciate both styles. I sure wouldn’t mind if they continued to mix these sounds, as long as they keep dazzling us with melodic guitars, whether epic or thundering. I’m looking forward to hearing what this band will do next, and I’m excited to see how their sound and career will develop.

Your Heaven’s Falling:

When Roses Bleed:

Mirrorborn:

July 9, 2014
Categories: Album Reviews, Local Band Info, Melodic Death Metal, Power Metal, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: Existence Asunder, Tal, Terracide . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Boris ticket give away

Boris at the 9:30 Club

Boris is a strange three piece band from Japan named after a Melvins song. They’re known for releasing albums of various genres, sometimes metal, sometimes not, but always very experimental. They’re playing at the 9:30 Club on Saturday, August 2nd, and we’re giving away a pair of tickets to this show to one of you lucky DCHM readers! To enter leave a comment on this post telling me what the best show you’ve ever seen at the 9:30 Club is! Hopefully it’s a metal show but it doesn’t have to be to count. At 5pm EST this Friday, June 27th, a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to receive two tickets to the show! Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from the winner within 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win, or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Ticket Fly right now for $18 here.

Boris isn’t a band that fits into any one music genre as they are constantly shifting and experimenting with their sound. They’ve worked with artists like Sunn O))) and Merzbow and are in a constant state of evolution. Their live shows are like no other since their music is like no other band’s. There’s some other great bands on this bill too though, including The Atlas Moth as direct support. They play an atmospheric style of sludge metal that is really catchy and hypnotic at the same time. The opening band is SubRosa, a doom/stoner band from Salt Lake City that has been getting a lot of buzz lately, and rightly so. The band’s moody sound is infectious. Now check out the below tunes by the bands playing and let me hear about your favorite show ever at the 9:30 Club!

Boris – Statement

The Atlas Moth – Holes In The Desert

SubRosa – Cosey Mo

June 23, 2014
Categories: Contests, Nightclub 9:30 . Tags: Boris, Contest, Contests, SubRosa, The Atlas Moth . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 18 Comments

Septicflesh ticket give away

Septicflesh at Empire

This Sunday marks the return of one of the best metal bands from Greece, Septicflesh! Their US tour comes to Empire in Springfield, Virginia on Sunday, June 22nd and to help get as many people out to this show as possible we’re giving away a free pair of tickets to one of you DCHM readers! To enter leave a comment on this post telling me why you’re excited about this show. At 5pm EST this Friday, June 20th, a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to receive two tickets to the show! Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from the winner within 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win, or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Ticket Fly right now for $20 here.

Septicflesh plays a unique style of death metal that incorporates symphonic elements that they blend together flawlessly. Their new album Titan, is released next week and from what I’ve heard of it so far they seem to be going even farther in perfecting their sound that made their 2011 release The Great Mass so popular. Also on the bill is Italian band Fleshgod Apocalypse who are making a name for themselves by blending symphonic and classical elements with aggressive technical death metal. Fellow Italians Hour Of Penance were supposed to be on this tour but unfortunately had to drop off because of visa issues. Montreal’s Necronomicon will be smashing ear drums with a blackened death metal sound that fans of Behemoth and Lovecraft will surely enjoy. There are also several great locals worth checking out for this date including Seraph and Gloom so be sure to get there early. Give a listen to these songs below and tell me why you want to go to this awesome show!

Septicflesh – Order Of Dracul